amazing grace
by abbyli
Summary: "Do you remember that one time that we were out late with Caroline and Stefan? And I wanted to stay out later but you made me go home because I had a big meeting the next morning and I needed some sleep. You took care of me. Made me tea. Practically tucked me in. I knew then that you were going to be an amazing father."


**entitled: **amazing grace

**summary: **"Do you remember that one time that we were out late with Caroline and Stefan? And I wanted to stay out later but you made me go home because I had a big meeting the next morning and I needed some sleep. You took care of me. Made me tea. Practically tucked me in. I knew then that you were going to be an amazing father."

**pairings: **enzo/bonnie, mentions of stefan/caroline

**rating: **t

**disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**notes: **Tissue warning, folks.

ps. Enzo's surname hasn't been revealed yet so I gave him the name of 'Simmons'.

.

.

.

He couldn't understand it.

All of it.

Everything was fine. Everything was going beautifully, as a matter of fact.

So when did it all go wrong?

Why were they here?

"Mr. Simmons?"

A gentle hand pulls him out of his thoughts. He looks up into the face of the doctor.

Bonnie's doctor.

He couldn't remember his name at the moment.

"Mr. Simmons, would you follow me please?" the doctor says.

He obeys.

They walk from the waiting room into the connecting hallway. He glances down that hallway, towards the room that his wife had been taken into just a few hours before.

"Mr. Simmons, you have a daughter," the doctor says.

Enzo suddenly realizes that this is the third time the doctor has said those words.

A daughter.

He has a daughter.

He and Bonnie have a beautiful daughter.

He wonders what she looks like. If she has his eyes or Bonnie's.

"How's Bonnie?" he whispers, his eyes tracing a crack in the linoleum beneath his feet.

At the catch in the doctor's voice, he knows.

Oh, god. He just _knows. _

He catches a few words of the doctor's explanation. Not that he really listens.

"..._bled out...did everything we could..."  
_

The doctor tries to insist that he go and see his daughter. That little girl that needed him. He even feels the doctor trying to guide him towards the elevators.

For some reason, the linoleum floor is quite interesting.

"How's Bonnie?"

* * *

"He's in shock. He hasn't accepted that Bonnie is gone."

"Can you blame him?" Caroline snaps. "Bonnie is...er, _was _his wife. His best friend. Why would he just immediately acc-_accept_-"

"Caroline -"

Caroline glares at her husband, her eyes filled with warm tears. One spills over.

"I just can't believe she's gone, Stefan," she whispers. Her husband gently loops his arm around her shoulders, pulling her against him. "All she ever wanted was to be a mommy. And now her baby daughter is here and she isn't."

* * *

Why was he here? He shouldn't be here.

The pitiful cry wakes him and his eyes focus.

"That's her."

It couldn't be.

Oh, but it was.

Bonnie's smile is so joyful. That same smile that he saw her wearing on their wedding day. On the morning that she told him that this tiny little baby was on the way. The smile of blessed miracles and an absolute peace that is so incomparable that it almost hurts his heart.

For one brief moment, he thinks the doctor was wrong. That she's alright. That they can get their girl and go home.

But then he realizes that it's not real.

Bonnie's green eyes meet his and she winks.

"Go get our girl."

* * *

_He would hear her sing those words early in the morning. So early that not even the birds were up. But soon, they would rise and join her in those beautiful words. _

"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see."

_Her voice was clear, so crisp, so unlike anything he had ever heard before. And it touched something inside of him that he never knew existed. _

_It made him fall even more in love with her. _

"Through many dangers, toils and snares. We have already come, 'twas grace that brought us safe thus far. And Grace will lead us home."

* * *

"Mr. Simmons?"

A gentle voice brings him home.

He looks up to see a nurse standing in front of him, almost kneeling to get his attention. She presses a folder and a pen into his hand.

"It's your daughter's birth certificate," she says softly.

Enzo flips open the folder, gazing bleary-eyed at the thick paper and the bolded letters.

_Certificate of Birth._

Certificate of birth.

He shouldn't be doing this alone.

"Her favorite song was 'Amazing Grace'," he says quietly. His eyes are still on the paper.

The nurse gives him a gentle smile. She already knows.

His hand shakes slightly as he signs the paper and scrawls in his daughter's name.

_Grace Bonnie Simmons. _

* * *

"Hi Gracie."

The baby cracks open one eye and peers at him like he is the most distasteful thing she has ever seen before slamming that eye shut.

For the first time, a tired smile loosens his mouth.

"Yeah, baby girl, I know," he whispers, sinking down into the rocking chair beside the incubator. "I know."

Since Grace was three weeks early, she had to stay in an incubator for a while until they were absolutely sure she was healthy enough to go home.

Caroline and Stefan had already been in here. He can tell because of the smell of violet perfume that still lingers in the air. That perfume...Bonnie had worn that perfume...

His hand suddenly digs at his wallet. He quickly pulls it out of his pocket and opens it up, pulling out a small photograph.

"Do you want to see your mom?" he says. He doesn't really care that there are half a dozen people milling about this NICU, all probably watching him. Or maybe not.

He brings the photo to eye level. He is one of the few in their little group that never puts pictures on his phone. He never wants to take the chance that he loses his phone and all of those pictures are gone forever.

The photo is of Bonnie. The picture was snapped in the heat of a moment where she was ranting and raving about something that he couldn't remember. He had thought she was just so cute when she was angry and couldn't resist taking the picture. She didn't take too kindly to that.

"She hated it whenever I took pictures of her. She would always throw a fit, telling me that she wasn't photogenic or whatever the heck you wanna call it. I didn't care. I loved taking pictures of her."

Enzo's eyes swivel to the left of him and he sees that Grace's own eyes are open and watching him. For a brief moment, it's almost like she is studying him.

"I know, I'm a bit of a downer, aren't I?"

Grace blinked once.

"Is that a yes?"

She blinked again.

"Before you know it, she will chattering your ear off."

And he and Grace and Bonnie are the only three people in the world.

She looks like she did in those miniscule moments in the NICU hallway, those green eyes bright and dancing, her face so full of love. She's dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans and a soft white sweater that hangs elegantly off of one shoulder. Her feet are bare and her hair is loose and flowing.

She looks like his Bonnie.

"You're probably right," Enzo says, glancing down at his own feet. Bonnie's gentle hand on his chin brings his gaze back up to meet hers. "Why are you here?"

Bonnie shrugs a shoulder, her smile peaceful. "Because. You needed me to give you a boot in the butt."

"I don't need that," he rebuts. "I need you here. I need you alive. I cannot do this without you."

"Yes you can," Bonnie answers, her voice a bit firmer. "Enzo, you can do this."

"How do you know that? How?"

Bonnie's face becomes thoughtful, almost like she is looking back in time. In fact ...

"Do you remember that night that we went out to dinner with Stefan and Caroline? They wanted to go dancing and stay out later and I wanted to go with them. But you made me go home because I had a big meeting the next day and I wasn't feeling well in the first place. You took care of me, made me tea. Practically tucked me into bed. I knew then," she whispers. A tear slips down her cheek. "I knew then that you were going to be an amazing father."

A lone tear slips down his nose. He quickly swipes it away, his hands just aching to reach out and touch her.

"Why?" he breathes. "Why did you go?"

Bonnie sighs ever so tenderly. "I do not know, Enzo. I don't. But I know that I can go on now."

And she rises to her tiny feet, striding over to Grace's incubator.

Bonnie places one hand on top of the incubator, her eyes hungrily devouring her daughter. Another tear falls onto the thick pane of plastic but when she looks back at him, she's smiling.

"Grace is so beautiful."

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_**FIN**_

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**Argh, the feels. I do apologize for this. It just came to me. **

**Reviews? Pretty please?  
**


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